1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for controlling a display of graphics, etc. in an edit screen when the graphics or characters, etc. are edited on an edit screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an editor (for example, a computer aided design (CAD), word-processor, etc.) for processing graphics and characters is used, the configuration of the graphics and characters becomes more complicated with an increasing amount of information on the screen, and the graphics and characters must be properly arranged in subsequent ability sessions.
To prevent this, the edit area should be entirely displayed for the purpose of editing data with their layout prioritized.
Conventionally, the following methods 1 and 2 have been used to arrange the layout of graphics and characters when operating an editor of graphics and characters.
1. Prior Art (1)
FIGS. 1A and 1B show the display screen according to the first prior art. FIG. 1A shows an edit screen 101 which is a part of an entire layout screen. If an editing operation on the graphics in the edit screen 101 is suspended to display the entire layout, then a layout screen 102, that is, the entire layout of the graphics being edited, replaces the edit screen by selecting layout display capabilities. FIG. 1B shows the layout screen 102 for displaying the entire layout.
An operator refers to the layout screen 102 shown in FIG. 1B to confirm the entire layout, and switches from the layout screen to the edit screen 101 shown in FIG. 1A to start an editing operation. If the operator requests to switch an edit area, he can specify another edit area with the layout screen 102 displayed, and switch to the edit screen 101. Repeating the above described operations allows the operator to complete his or her editing operation.
2. Prior Art (2)
FIGS. 2A and 2B show the two windows open on the screen according to the second prior art. The two windows are assigned an edit screen 201 and a layout screen 202 respectively. FIG. 2A shows the window displaying the edit screen 201, that is, a part of the layout screen, which overlaps the window displaying the layout screen 202. If a graphic editing operation is suspended on the edit screen 201 to display the entire layout, then the operator switches screens such that the window displaying the layout screen 202 overlaps the window displaying the edit screen 201 as shown in FIG. 2B to enable reference to the entire layout on the layout screen 202.
After the operator confirms the entire layout by referring to the layout screen 202 shown in FIG. 2B, he or she resumes the editing operation by switching screens such that the window displaying the edit screen 201 overlaps the other screen as shown in FIG. 2A. When the operator requests another edit area, he or she specifies the area on the layout screen 202 with the overlapping as shown in FIG. 2B, and then resumes the editing operation after switching the screens such that the edit screen 201 becomes active as shown in FIG. 2A.
In addition to the above described prior art technologies, a screen display mode such as an enlarge mode, a reduce mode, etc. can be preliminarily specified for each screen as an optional zooming edit method so that a screen display mode can be switched if necessary for efficient editing. For example, an editing operation is roughly performed on a screen display reduce mode. Then, the mode is switched to an enlarge mode for detailed editing. Repeating the above described operations allows the operator to complete his or her editing operation.
However, the prior art technologies have the following problems.
Method 1 requires a step of switching the display screen 101 to the layout screen 102 and a step of switching back to the edit screen 101 to resume the editing operation. Therefore, the operator cannot edit data while watching the layout screen. Furthermore, predetermined steps are required when specifying another edit area.
Method 2 requires a step of switching the window displaying the layout screen 202 to or from the window displaying the edit screen 201. If the windows are designed not to overlap each other so as to omit this step, displayed simultaneously on a single screen are the window displaying the layout screen 302 and the window displaying the edit screen 301 as shown in FIG. 3. In this case, the size of the window displaying the edit screen 301 is smaller than the other window. Therefore, the amount of the information displayed on the edit screen 301 is smaller. If the edit area is switched, a predetermined procedure must be followed.
Furthermore, in the above described optional zooming edit method, the operator should switch the screen display mode if the reduced scale of the edit screen is altered.